


Love You

by Karis_Artemisia_Judith



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 07:28:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2804444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karis_Artemisia_Judith/pseuds/Karis_Artemisia_Judith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She says it to everyone. It doesn’t mean anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love You

"I  _love_  you!”

The exuberant cry made Kristoff blush faintly, but Anna didn’t notice. Her attention was totally focused on the double chocolate shake that he’d just set in front of her. She used a finger to scoop up a dollop of whipped cream and grinned at him. “Thanks!”

"You’re welcome," he muttered, focusing on his own root beer float, glad that she didn’t notice the flush on his neck. She never had, after all.

_She says it to everyone. It doesn’t mean anything_.

 

Anna loved everyone and everything, pretty much, and she wasn’t quiet about it. Her phone conversations ended with a chirpy “Bye, love you!”, she gave Valentine’s Day cards to everyone she knew, and she said ‘I love you’ to anyone who gave her food, especially anyone who gave her chocolate. Kristoff had seen her declare her love for middle-aged waitresses and acne-ridden baristas. He’d seen her croon endearments to stray mongrels and feral cats. She’d told him that she loved  _him_  almost as soon as she met him, before she knew his name. He’d been invited to the study group by a friend-of-a-friend, and it was just by chance that Ma had insisted on giving him an entire carrot cake that afternoon. And there he’d been, standing awkwardly in the doorway, cake in hand, turning red as the vivid girl who’d flung the door open said “I  _love_  you! What kind is it?”

"Wait, what? Oh! Uh, carrot."

"I could kiss you! Oh, come in, sorry! What was your name again?"

"It’s Kristoff."

"I’m Anna. Nice to meet you. Guys! Kristoff is here! He brought cake!"

 

He thought that he’d get used to it, after the first few times.

He didn’t.

He hoped that he’d stop blushing, once he realized that she said it to everyone. Once he realized that it didn’t  _mean_  anything.

But it did mean something, to him. And he went on blushing every time. Anna never saw, although he was pretty certain that her sister had noticed. Kristoff had never said it back. But he’d promised himself. And it was Christmas. What was that line from that movie Anna liked so much? ‘At Christmas you tell the truth.’

He’d just say it back. Just this once. No big deal.

 

She said it so _easily_.

 

She said it after he’d helped her rescue a perfectly good sofa from the curb and move it into her new living room. While her sister was suspiciously going over the couch with a fabric disinfectant spray, Anna had given him a hug. “Free couch,  _yes_! Kris, you’re my hero. I love you!”

She said it when he’d given her a ride home on a rainy day, her bicycle in the back of his truck. “You’re a lifesaver. Love you!”

She said it when she waved goodbye before she left for the winter break. “Love you! Merry Christmas!”

She said it when she left a note under his doormat. “I broke in to borrow a scoop of coffee, sorry! But I left some muffins in exchange. How do you keep your place so clean when you have a dog?? Thanks for the caffeine, I love you” and she’d drawn a little heart.

She said it when he brought pizza over for game-and-movie night. “Bacon? I love you!”

She even said it in front of her boyfriend—”This is Kristoff, he’s so good at fixing stuff, I love him!”—which made the boyfriend scowl and glare. And she said it after she’d cried into his shoulder and eaten half a pan of brownies, when the boyfriend had turned out to be the kind of guy who dumped a girl for not going to bed with him within a month. “Thank you,” she’d mumbled tearfully. “For being my friend. For everything. I love you.”

She texted it a few months later, when he asked if he could take her out for ice cream, even though it was snowy and freezing. “That would be great! I love you.” A heart. A smiley face.

 

"So…" Anna said, stirring her shake with the straw, watching it melt—the diner felt like a sauna, overcompensating for the cold outside. "You’re going to take the job, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to go full mountain man? Beard, flannel underwear, pet bear, the whole nine yards?"

He laughed. “Probably not. Not the bear, anyway. I’ve already got Sven. He’d get jealous.”

"How far away is it, again?"

"Four hours. Not too bad. I’ll be back to visit. Ma made me promise."

She nodded, chewing absently at her lip, and focused on her shake again. She didn’t say the words until he was walking her to her door.

"I’ll miss you." Her arms wrapped around him tightly, and he hugged her back, his heart in his throat as he waited to hear her say it one last time. "I love you."

"Love you too," he muttered. He started to let go. It was hard. It was hard not to say it again, not to hold her even tighter.  But he’d promised himself he’d say it back, and he’d said it, and he needed to let go of her now, before it got even harder—except Anna held on to his coat.

“ _Listen_ ,” Anna said, poking him in the chest with her mitten. “I mean, I love you.  _Love_  love you.”

"I love you too," he said, the words he’d rehearsed tumbling out as if he was reciting from a script, but this time he was looking at her, and she was looking at him, and she was…she was _blushing_. “Oh,” he said dumbly. “I mean…oh.”

"You mean it?" she asked.

"I—yeah. Do you?"

Anna nodded, her blush darkening.

"Oh. How…how long?"

"I—" She shrugged helplessly, smiling up at him. "I don’t…I don’t know. I think a while? But I didn’t realize it until you said you were leaving and I realized I wouldn’t be able to see you whenever I wanted, and I just…the bottom sort of fell out of my stomach." Anna bit her lip. "What about you? How long?"

Kristoff cupped her cheek in one gloves hand. “Anna…it feels like forever.” He hesitated, and Anna took matters into her own hands, standing on tiptoe to kiss him.

"I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
